Key West fishing
for Permit
Permit are probably one of the most hard fighting
fish that cruise the flats. Their thin but wide body enables
them
to put up
a very good fight. Permit are most sought after by fly
fisherman. Permit on a fly is a lifetime achievement. Permit
caught
at all is a great achievement too!
Permit feast on crustaceans such as small blue crabs and shrimp.
It is difficult for them to refuse a live crab when it is presented
correctly.
 Permit
: Trachinotus falcatus
Silver gray colored with dark blue back. Permit are found both offshore on
wrecks and reefs and inshore on the flats of the Florida Keys. The Marquesas
is a popular place to fish for permit and some of the largest permit have been
caught here. The average weight of permit in the Keys is around 15lbs. They
have been caught up to 35lbs.
We fish for permit in Key West for most of
the year. Mid-April and into May the Permit go offshore to spawn
on wrecks and deep reefs. They return to the flats at the end
of May and into June. Light tackle fishing for permit requires
a lively blue crab hooked through one of the points on his side,
enabling him to swim freely. These blue crabs are about the size
of a silver dollar. On the flats permit will put their tail in
the air while feeding. They are scouring the bottom of grass
and sand flats looking for crabs that are buried. When casting
to permit on the flats, your cast needs to be very close by to
ensure the permit sees the bait. The hardest part is not putting
the cast too close where the permit would spook. Fly fishing
for permit is by far the most challenging part of fly fishing
in saltwater. Many hours are spent around the fly tying bench
trying to perfect the crab fly pattern. Del Brown's Merkin seems
to do the trick pretty well, as does Enrico Puglisi's Crab patterns.
We end up tying a few new crab patterns each year. Some work,
some don't. The best study is the live blue crab we use for bait Check out more photos in the fishing photo gallery...
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